[MUSIC] Fan Morning Show Sports at 5.9 in the fan, man, Ennis. Friend-gutting, you doth protest too much. >> Yeah, they get about it. >> The wheels are sped in and off and it's pretty crazy to be talking about the Leafs in a postseason series. We're like, frankly, like, I mean, maybe this is prisoner of the moment stuff. I just, I don't think that the pressure is on the Leafs to the degree that it's on the Boston Bruins. Like, maybe we'll feel different after Puck drop, and I guess the way the game goes, if they're protecting a one goal lead and say they fritter away, and it goes to overtime because they blew a third period lead, maybe that shifts. But I just don't see it considering where we're at with this version of this Leafs team and considering where we'll be at, if there's still no Austin Matthews tomorrow in Boston, and considering the discourse around this Bruins team that had a historic regular season blew a 3-1 series lead to the heavily underdog Panthers that we didn't know were really good and are really good now, and have a chance to do it again against the current reigning Joker champions. It's hard, it's just like, tell me if like there's a descending opinion, we'll talk to Frank Siravelli about it in a couple of minutes, but it's hard to get away from the Bruins having the majority of the pressure on home ice. You're in the moment, you're right, but what is, this is like, this is a five hour show question. What's pressure really? They have the pressure of that they were up through one in this series. They have the pressure of they have home ice. They have the pressure of it's the Leafs. If you can't close them out, you'll never be able to close anybody out, but if Boston loses, okay, Jim Montgomery, I guess he's gone, feels pretty safe and, you know, like I can say, trade line us all Mark, but Brad Marchon feels the pressure, David Pasternak's getting run out of town. It's like, they're all going to be really mad at Charlie Coyle for not being the first line center. All of a sudden, Charlie McAvoy is no good. Like, you're right. In the moment right now, it feels like it's all pointed to Boston, but when you actually look at the comeuppance that could come, but whoever loses this game. This is, you know, Boston would never say it this way, but it's all found money for them. This is supposed to be the dead, not supposed to be here, not supposed to be here. God, I need to find a better reference than my Dante that Dante. But I look at it and that's what I say that you're right in the moment heading into the game. It feels like Boston. How could you do this? You have home ice. You're the better team. You have the goalie that's been in the Leafs head until recently, but, and I don't mean that's, that's not Swainman. I'm just saying Joe Wallace may be taking the belt of like goalie in a team's head right now. I mean, is there any debate about that? No. No, and the only reason it's a debate is just because Swainman's been so good, but it's not. He has been, but they've finally beaten the Bruins. They beaten him, right? Like even after game two, it was like, okay, you beat the Bruins, but not with Jeremy Swainman, who's been in it for all of the victories. And now they beaten him in consecutive games. Yeah, you're right. Like individually, there's not as much on the line as there is for one guy and it's Mitch Marner. Right? Like William Neilander already got paid and already got what everybody gets is the full no move. So yeah, he can act as cool, calm and collected as he did in yesterday's game, allowing him to score two goals in the hockey game. And Austin Matthews, sure, he wants to have another legacy game like he did in game two would be a different deal if he stepped onto the ice for the first time in a couple of games and in game seven and did that again. But it's Mitch Marner who could literally find himself being pushed out of the only franchise he's ever wanted to play for and not getting the extension. He so desires and being the face of this era of Leafs postseason failure. Because it'll rightly or wrongly, and everybody contributed to this, he'll be, if he departs of his own volition because he has a full no trade clause and he could, I guess, force this team to play him out the string this year and then reach free agency at the conclusion of it, he will be the poster boy for all of this. It won't be anybody else. It'll be William, it'll be Mitch Marner as the fact of reason why they were unsuccessful in eight years of postseason play. >> It is easy to point the finger there, but I don't know that it will be. Because if they lose, we're back to all the conversations we were having about why was Keith Pelley brought in, and I'm not gonna say like, well, or I can't hide. You put it in my head. It wasn't William even even understood. >> He was very good last night. >> No, he's very good. >> Very good. >> I think that the person and not the Marner might not be the one who ultimately wears it, wears it. But the idea of like Brandon Shanahan, that's why we go back to what is pressure. It's like, I don't know that there's gonna be sea changes in Boston coming out of a game seven loss on Saturday. There'll be changes, a new head coach, but this could literally be end of an era of stuff. And again, I keep going back to it, Marner, I know everybody is saying this is the time. He's got, I am not so certain, regardless of how this plays out, that we're finally gonna see the sea change in a leaf soft season like we did. He has too much power and he has so little reason to even want to think about a contract extension given the way his regular season went. >> Yeah, I mean, he might want to if he has like a four goal game tomorrow night, and he wins a consummate trophy for a Stanley Cup winning Toronto Maple Leafs team. He might be like, yeah, I'll take all the money, please. >> 15's good. >> Right away. And at least it'll be like right away, sir, at your beck and call. All right, time now for our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus, a dot com. It is Frank Seravelli, president of hockey content at dailyfaceoff.com. How's it going, Frank? >> You good? How are you guys? >> Doing all right. So, okay, we need an outsider. >> Just all right. After that. >> Okay. I don't know how to overdo it. I'll gladly overdo it. I am fired up. >> It's a great Friday morning. So I'm not to see Ben's just excited because it's Friday. I'm excited because of last night. So yeah, it's can be true better than all right. I'm doing awesome this morning, Frank. >> It's going to be an unreal Saturday. Kentucky Derby sliding right into the game seven. >> Have you done any Derby research, Frank? Do you have a guy? I haven't even looked at that. I haven't seen the horse names and like picked one that I like as far as the names are concerned. Do you have anything for us, Kentucky Derby wise? >> I have nothing to add. I'm a horseman. I haven't had a chance to spend any time yet. >> God, I'm such a sucker for the Derby. It really is one of our great events and the fact that they give you a post time, none of this like six o'clock and we'll get to it when we get to it. No, six, twelve or whatever it ends up being. Great event. >> Six thirty six. >> Okay. >> I love that. Yeah. Hit me up with that. Yeah. What a Saturday? >> I don't check going to get mad at us though. Thank you guys here. Adios going to come charge me. >> That's right. That's his corner. Okay. We need an outside perspective here, Frank, because like as the city that has currently the belt holder for choking dogs in the post season, that being the Toronto Maple Leafs, it does feel like the belt could change hands tomorrow night and the Boston Bruins could be wearing it. Is that correct? >> Oh, that's an accurate assessment for sure. What I would say is this is the ultimate grab your popcorn and watch game seven if you are a total impartial fan of the game, because the drama just, it's so thick that when you consider the consequences for either team that loses. And I heard your preamble about how the consequences are likely to be different for both organizations and fair, but either way, someone has to wear that into an entire summer and beyond. And it's so right for that. It's ridiculous. >> Yeah. It is this is what we love, right? This is why sports is great. Like, you know, we love it for the competition and watching athletes be great, but they're being states, stakes, these things mattering. It's it's why we we love this this time of year so much. I mean, we've been stuck in the minutiae here. It's like, obviously, we've been keeping tabs on other series, but, you know, stepping outside of our kind of local perspective here, what have you made of the last two games? I mean, it does seem to be that, and this is what I've been accrediting to, the Leafs have just been able to borrow a baptism, they've been able to start on time and kind of carry the game from there. Is it that simple? Or have you seen something else in the last couple of games for the Leafs? I've just seen a real comfortability in that type of game. I mean, I think if you were to look at it from the optimist point of view, you would say, we just won two two to one hockey games. They were physical. We bent, but we didn't break. And there were tense moments and we survived. I think if you were to take it from the pessimist point of view, you'd say there's six games in the series and only one time have the Toronto Maple Leafs scored more than two goals. And yeah, the fact that they did it the last two without the greatest goal score on the planet is certainly significant, but still highly alarming that they're not scoring. Yeah, but if they keep it at five on five, they've outscored the Bruins there now, right? I think it's 10, eight, the scoring at five on five between these two teams. And it does feel like only being short handed once in each of game five and six, the Leafs are making a concerted effort to keep it at five on five. Yeah, the discipline has been big and it's not just discipline and staying out of the box. There's also been discipline in being efficient with the puck, making smart decisions. You know, there were varying moments, I think probably watching in the third period, particularly in the last seven minutes that you are just, if you're a Leaf fan, your heart is racing. Three icings and a span of 90 seconds and you're going, I mean, they were kind of saved by Morgan Riley's gamesmanship at some point when you had the fourth line on the ice and he's kind of just. Oh, that's. Listen, as an impartial person, like that should probably be delay a game, right? I mean, that's how I would look at it. I'd be screaming bloody murder if I was Jim Montgomery saying, what's the point of the icing and making them stay out here? If you're going to have to go review it and basically give them a minute and a half break anyway. Yeah. Yeah. Couldn't work. Joel Edmondson. He was like, Oh, wait, I got to go out for another 10 seconds. I was just refreshed. Yeah. Like you can't play dumb. It was literally like 15 seconds prior. You were on the ice. Who was on the ice? Like, I don't remember. Was it Morgan Riley? The best part is he's looking at them going, what are you guys talking about? And it's like, dude, we see on the screen here that it says your ice time is one second on the shift. Please get off the ice, sir. Yeah. What surprise it took so long to sort out? Did they seem like with player tracking technology? Yeah. Very simple. Although I will say, you know, in the midst of that change, I do think I know only 18 skaters dress last night. I think somehow all the healthy scratches were also on the ice during that change over as well. They just flooded the zone completely, tried to throw it as many bodies as humanly possible. You know, working, working, sorry, go ahead. Yeah. No, I was just going to say that. But the reason I pointed that out is because those were kind of the, you know, is this thing going to stay on the rails or not moments that the, that didn't prove too big for this team? Yeah. You're right. No, that's a, that's well said. Heading into last night's game under the complete belief that there was no way the Leafs were only going to have to kill off one power play or sorry, kill off one penalty in two straight games. They only got short handed once again. Is this a case of the Leafs being hyper discipline? Are we seeing, are we, are we seeing prison rules take over? Do we think there's any working of the officials? I was of the opinion. There was no way they were only going to be short handed once people in Boston probably want Pontus Homburg in prison today after the, the hit on Mason, low rye on the, the knee lander for school. Yeah. And people in Toronto probably want Brad Marsh and tossed for shoving the linesman. Honestly, just jail in general. I will figure it out. Jail is good. I mean, later, you know, I'm a big fan of the prison rules. To be honest, I wish we could see more of them. I lean more towards the referees just putting the whistles in their pocket more than anything else because there was plenty of stuff that you could have called that you didn't for sure. But I think if everyone is on the same page, knowing that that's the case, not only does that produce the best hockey possible, it also just, it makes it a total straight up fair game. Best against best. Let's go. Even strength. Yeah, I'm with you. Leafs would sign up for that. If yeah, they could go into tomorrow's game and they had a power with the officials like, that's just to all agree, no penalties either way, because obviously, yeah, 5 on 5 gives them their best shot. But that's what the playoffs always were. You basically had to maim someone in order for you to go to the box. And I love that. Yeah. No, me too. Listen. And if you're a leaf and you certainly love it. So right now, I have the box score open from last year's game seven. Bruins. Why do you do this to yourself? No, no, no. That's good. No one in game six last year. So that was a good one. No, Jeremy Swamin allowing four goals on 31. Oh, you're talking about the Bruins. Yeah. The Bruins game seven. No, no, no. So I thought you're talking about one of the three previous game sevens between these two teams. And I was like, congratulations, you are Jimmy Fallon and fever pitch. Yeah. No, I'm not that. Okay. No, I like I said, the Bruins have the chance to become the Choker franchise. Anyways, Jeremy Swamin got his first start of that series in game seven. I don't remember him being particularly bad, but he allowed four goals on 31 shots. It's an 871 save percentage in a single game. He's been so good in this series. But yeah, he was in that for the deciding game. They could have erased all the previous history of that series with a victory against the Panthers in game seven last year and they had Patrice Bergeron. It was obviously a much better version of this this Bruins team. If they lose tomorrow, and I guess we have to see how it plays out, right? Like if Swamin allows five goals, yeah, it'd be hard not to look at him, I suppose. But who's going to wear this the most on the Bruins side of things? Jim Montgomery probably two fantastic regular seasons. I mean, you look at this year and last year, the Bruins had 234 points combined in the regular season. Yeah. In both years, you lose to, I mean, I'd say it's probably unfair to look at the Panthers from last year, a team that the year prior to that had won the president's trophy. Clearly no, you know, no shrinking violet. It's unfair to say, oh, they lost to the eighth seed and, you know, technically they were. That was a still a really good team that underachieved in the first round. But I think by most accounts, even just from an on paper type scenario, looking at this matchup between Bruins and Leafs, you'd say with the way the Leafs defense core is structured, the Bruins have a pretty significant and healthy advantage, both times getting out to a three to one lead and not being able to shut it down. At some point, when you have a regime change and there's a total new leadership core in place because Patrice Bergeron retires, who else do you have to point to? But the coach and say, what's happening here? Yeah, you're, you're right. I think he is the guy who, who ultimately wears it now. He's gotten last year. I mean, maybe it was, maybe it was not being queued enough, but goaltending and picking the right guy has been a bit of a bugaboo for them, not in this series, but, but last year. Do you think there's any world they go away from Swamin in the game seven? I feel like he's been so good, but I also feel like he's gotten in his head a little bit in the past Montgomery has in terms of picking the goalie. I imagine you'd just go back to Swamin, but can you see any situation? And I think it goes without saying Joe Walz getting the net for the Leafs. I would go back to, I would go back to Omar. Oh my God. Really? Yep. I know. And I know the numbers. I know what Swamin has done this series, but because he was the guy in net for game seven last year, because you got to change it up somehow. You got to change the mojo and you know what? This part probably won't be talked about nearly as much because of the way the final score ended and whatnot and the game. But like I look at really that last sequence. When you have a knee lander score, obviously that goal with point one seconds left gets by Joseph Wall and breaks the shutout. But what happens if Swamin made a save there like that? That might have been the difference. Yeah. No, for sure. What's the vision of that going into game seven? Do you? Yeah. I actually do. Personally, I love every minute of it, but I know what you mean. Yeah. Brett and I were there in the building yesterday and there was a moment early in that game where Jeremy Swamin was looking at his glove as like he had a couple of shots go off that thing that he wasn't able to close it. Yeah. We're like, Oh, that is an interesting little tidbit. I think if you're Jim Montgomery, like the safest thing would be to stay with Jeremy Swamin. I think if you go to line, lean us all Mark, any stanks tomorrow, it's, it's, I mean, you're probably on the hot seat either way if you lose tomorrow, but I think there's way more second guessing if you go to hallmark, even with the game seven of it all last season with Swamin, I just think safe is death. You want safe, like you want to sit in the corner and suck your thumb with a blanket? Go ahead. To me, I'm going with the older guy who, you know, has a lot to play for in terms of what happens next in his career. He's going to be highly motivated and it's just different, different juju heading into game seven. I'm telling you, I'm, I guarantee you, Leaf fans would be ecstatic if they went to lean us all Mark. Like that's it. If you buy it all into like, Hey, what does the opposing team want you to do? I think the Leafs despite like all Mark was pretty good in that game to loss, not the problem. Yeah, not he made some spectacular saves and they just had the best version of the best goal score on the planet. Just steal it from him. I, I, I, it's just, it's hard even with the last two, two losses by Swamin to get away from him just looking like the better goalie just overall all season long in the sample against the Leafs. I know he's been good this series, but all Mark was the better goalie down the stretch. Yeah, no question. And he's got the Vesna to, to back it up as well. Yeah. And I mean, I'm just, it was kind of a classic late season swoon for Swamin. He went a month long stretch with an 896 from late February to late March. That's, but again, he's played well this. Look, we can debate this forever. The safe bet, the safe play is to stick with Swamin, but if you want to change it up, I'm just not leaving any stone unturned. Yeah, I think, I think like the thing is, is all Mark has played so well, not just this year, but through the bulk of that tandem that I, I don't think it's a wrong decision. But yeah, it is. It was never designed to be six game Swamin one game. Oh, Mark, no, you're right, you are and frankly, what they should have done was go to all Mark last night so that then you have this ability to ask the question. It made sense to me and I, and you can rewind the tape. I said this with Justin and Aelish earlier in the week, it made sense to go with Swamin for game five win or lose. I would have gone to, to, to, to all Mark in the next game, but now you've got the question of like, okay, this guy has only played one game in the series. Yeah, no, I like it is, you're, you're not wrong when you end, it's just so funny because it's this exact same situation, more or less, that not exactly the same, but a lot of parallels to the one they found themselves in last year. For the first time. Can I ask another question? Please go for it, because I've thought about this a lot. Why did it take so long to get to Joseph Wall? I, because he didn't look very good down the stretch of the regular season and at least you had the institutional knowledge that Ilya Samsonov is capable of winning a series. You know, he was honestly what it was was he was never comparing this year, Samson off to last year, Samson off is crazy. No, but also comparing Joe wall and it feels nuts to say after last night and what you've seen since he's come into the series, but comparing the Joe wall you saw before his injury to the Joe wall, you saw afterwards in the regular season is night and day as well, like it's arguably as big a chasm as there was between last year's Samson off and this year. So I like we, it's funny, we, we both hand up come up and I would have handled this more or less the exact way Keith had in terms of the goal tending, but yeah, I think it was just that Joe wall and also we had the two losses against Boston right before the deadline. There was just a lot going into it and you know, like we all could have seen this happening, but it was hard because wall just hadn't proven it or not, not even proven it, but really given the Leafs much of a glimpse of it, even post him being hurt. Yeah, I think that's fair. I do have one more. I'm going to ask you one more question for the first time today, I'm going to talk about something other than the Leafs game. We talk about ghosts and goblins and ghouls. The Canucks lose their under their beds. Yeah. Well, I don't know the best ever that Amazon again, like you and I mileage may vary on that. I do reference it a lot though. So like for my work, it was a reason why Paul McLean doesn't work there anymore. I would say I would say we're going to talk about ghosts and goblins. The Canucks not, not as tortured as the least, but it's been a weird season for them. If they lose series for them, if they lose tonight and they're back at home, we've, we've spent a lot of time talking about nervous buildings and tight buildings. I know you're out in Vancouver a little while ago, you know, if it doesn't go the Canucks way tonight, what do you think that building is going to feel like for, for our games haven't potentially? I mean, it's a market that on a good day is on edge and highly combustible. It does seem to collapse on itself at times. And I say that lovingly contributing to that on a, on a daily basis. I, I, it's been an odd series because you don't really know what the Canucks psyche is like heading into game six, because they, they were leading the series, I've, I've been at every game so far. They were leading the series three to one. And yet their best game of the series was game five that they lost to send it across the continent again to Nashville. And so I would think that from a pure process perspective, you're saying to yourself, if we get, I know it's a measly 20 shots on goal and they only have 91 shots through five games, which will make your head explode, even in Toronto in a market where you can't buy offense. Um, they, they have 13 high danger chances on 20 shots. Like how much more quality do you want? And that's the tough part to sort of reason with is you had the process, you had a lead in the third period, you coughed it up and now you've got your work cut out for you in a building where you swept the first two games of your trip there. But you also know that you weren't the better team in those two games. No. So this is one of the more strange playoff series that I've ever covered. Yeah. And a good job by the Canucks coming up with those two goals at six on five in game four to send it to overtime and winning it because if yeah, if that weren't the case, no business, they had zero business with the game. Correct. Correct. Thank you for this man, enjoy game seven. Can't wait. Also cannot wait. There's Frank Sir Valley, president of hockey content at dailyfaceoff.com. He was our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom visit Don Valley, North Lexus.com. Okay. Now that I think about it, yeah, yesterday was the game for Venus Allmark. If you were at all thinking about him in this series, because then you can go back to Swam and right, but then you're going back to the guy who lost that. Like, I honestly think it is nuts. This is an insane thing to say about a team that has a Vesna winner and a guy and the other guy who's good enough to win one. It kind of feels like there's been no right answer almost with them here. And they both played so well, everything just feels like an overthink. And this is what we've been, we've seen series like this for the Leafs, where things get spiraling and you go, what are you going to put in here and what's the lineup change you're going to make? And I'm going to put Andreas Johnson in a game five when he hasn't played in nine months. Like once decisions start spiraling and swirling, it's insane to say about again, two amazing goalies that he has the luxury of choosing between. But yeah, if he goes to Allmark last night and the game plays out the exact same way and all mark is great. But Kneelander is just that much better than your back to Swamin, the guy who had in net for game seven. I think so. No, no, no. Like you can think that now because you're not like you can't touch it. You can't feel it. Put yourself in the Boston shoes. That's the way you want to play this thing out. I think so. I do too. But you can't tell me that's not incredibly nervous. How do you feel more comfortable if you're the Leafs? Oh, Allmark. I'd like to see Allmark. Yeah. Of course. Like I don't think there is like not even like you can't answer that fast enough. No, that's the biggest indication to me that it has to be Swamin and anything less than that is not so as mentioned earlier in the show, Bear Naked ladies, the big racket will be performing. Sobe Stadium June 27th were given away tickets and for a chance to win text in today's code word sobeez to 59590 again, that's sobeez 59590 given away another pair of tickets on Monday. But if you don't win with us, make sure to secure your tickets at ticketmaster.ca when we come back, this man who was also in the building yesterday who we'd like only interacted with like ever so briefly at the conclusion of the hockey game. That's right. Luke Fox on his way to Boston for Tomorrow's Game 7s. The fan morning show continues. Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, Sportsnet 590, the fan. Covering the Blue Jays from an analytical perspective, Jay's Talk Plus with Blake Murphy. Be sure to subscribe and download Jay's Talk on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan morning show, Sportsnet 590, the fan, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning, you were mad at me about talking about a game seven. I mean, great Joe Bo and saying we're going to Boston. It was, I mean, it was overish. I mean, no, never in the history of hockey with this franchise could a team score two six on five goals to send it to overtime and then win. Okay. I didn't one and didn't hear him say that. I just got moved around in the postseason. So normally when I'm sitting in my wonderful press box seat, I get to hear Bowen screaming at me, but it was actually, it was Jack Edwards behind me, but in his loud side didn't hear him. So that was okay. We'll just leave that alone. But I, so I could not chastise him also. Sorry, Joe Bowen, a little more goodwill in, in my heart than you. You're working there. You're getting there. And also, do you want me to divulge that it's your fault that they scored at the end of the game? Why? You were like, Oh, can you imagine? And I was like, don't you were going to say something about Joe wall shutout. You were and I tut tutted you. Oh, yeah, I know. Well, then I didn't say it. I don't know. I stopped you. Listen, who cares? We got a shout out or not. I mean, I did openly talk about, Hey, what's the Leafs goalie goal? You said that? Yeah. You missed that? I wasn't paying attention to that. I was too locked in. Oh my God, I would have. I might have hurled you from the press box if you said that you did. But if I heard it, okay, let's talk to Luke Fox sports, that's own who I would never hear all from the press box. I think he's too strong. Too quite honest. I mean, he got a reprieve. We were in the building and for some reason they didn't put us next to you, Luke. Well done. James Brown was punished with us. I didn't have to watch you scarf down pizza in the three periods. Yeah, no, only one slice. You didn't die. You got all the worst slices? Yeah. I went back in the first intervention. Of course, buddy. That was my dinner. I didn't even have an ice cream sandwich last night. So did they have them? I didn't see them. I didn't look at them. Okay. God, yeah. Jesus. Retroactively, I won an ice cream sandwich and there was one. You could have seen Ben's eyes just now, Luke, when he found that out. Jeez. Yeah, no, I ate my four slices. And you know what? That's for me, when it comes to pizza, that's actually the low end of the spectrum. So, you know, I was very giving to the rest of the attendees of that game. That's the proper trick. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. What a game. What a series all of a sudden, back to Boston, you go, Luke, did you see this thing coming after what we saw in Game 4 now, like almost a week ago on Saturday? Sure. I mean, was it not always going to be seven games between these two teams? I did not see the performance. I did not see it looking this way. That's what I would say. They just strung together two incredible defensive efforts. I mean, yeah, they had some okay defensive games through the regular season, but back to back like that, two, one, like if you were just to tell someone the scores of the game, you'd say, okay, Boston is playing to their identity, their defense first. Toronto likes to open it up a little bit more. Toronto makes more mistakes in their own zone. Toronto doesn't get that type of goaltending. There's no way they're winning the two, one games. So you have to give credit where credit's due. And I guess how dramatic the turnaround is from Game 4, from getting booed off the ice to delivering in front of, if not the best crowd since I've been reporting at Scorsabank Arena, certainly the best crowd this year by a mile. And to do it with Austin Matthews, just fantastic. And if you're the Boston Bruins, you're like, wait a second. We had a 3-1 lead. We had no William Nielander for three games, maybe call it four, because he was a shell of himself, his first game back. We've had a chance to close them out without their MVP in 69 goals score twice. We haven't been able to get the job done, and we're getting fantastic goaltending. Like Swamin's been off the charts, and you can't get the job done. Now all the pressure is on Boston. I thought the pressure was on Boston anyway, going into Game 6, but Game 7, forget about it. There's no team in the MLB, NBA, or NHL that is blown back to back 3-1 leads in the playoffs. And that's what they're facing. Yeah, my understanding is they don't play series in soccer, but it's never happened there either, because they don't play series, you can't even do that there. You mentioned the crowd, and I want to talk a lot about the game, but man, the crowd has been such a big topic of conversation. What was his electric crowd as I can remember? I mean, I was having flashbacks to like early 2000s Leafs playoffs crowd. What is it? Is it chicken or the egg? Did the crowd step up? Did that spurn the players on? Or was it the fact that they allowed one shot in the first period, because they were trying to block everything that moved, and they were, you know, you had Noah Gregor into the line. I'm trying to run everybody through the boards that he could get his hands on. It was just a physical game. Like, how much of this is chicken versus egg? Did the crowd step up and spurn on the team, or did the team step up and spurn on the crowd? Yeah, I think it's the team, because I think the crowd going into game four was good too. It was ready. I don't know if you, I don't think you guys were at that one, but it was, it was ready to pop. It was actually really positive when I was impressed, but then they didn't deliver and they started to turn. There was a moment last night where it could have went sideways, so, you know, Toronto gets the double power play for the high-sticking call. Their power play is garbage, right? Like they can't. That's so kind for you to call it garbage, like I have other words for it, but garbage is fine. Well, another another term is one for 20, but so, but they're getting nothing going. They're like, at the very least, if you don't score a fine, but the power play is supposed to look dangerous, it's supposed to give you momentum. And it was actually the opposite. Boston's only shot of the period came on Toronto's power play. So there was a moment there when Boston came out and out of the box and Toronto had just blown two more power plays that you thought maybe it could turn, you know, they're pressing. If Boston had a score there, maybe the crowd, you know, gets on the Leafs a little bit, but the fact that they held the fort, pushed back, I think Toronto is an honest crowd, right? They want to see you finish your checks. They want to see you blocking shots. They want to see that this means as much to the players as it does to them. And that is exactly the type of effort they delivered. I was so thoroughly impressed by their defense last night, and then Joseph Wall, when he needed to, was stellar. Yeah, and it's not, listen, they weren't leading the game after the opening 20 minutes. It was scoreless. They were barely leading the game after 40 minutes. But if you got like an 11 to 1 shots total in the first period of Saturday's game, like you're not getting the same vitriol from the crowd, even if you're tied, or even if you're trailing, honestly, and you're outplaying the Bruins by the amount the Leafs have been out playing the Bruins in these last two first periods. It was entirely the result of just a horrible, horrible 40 minute effort for the Maple Leafs on Saturday in game four. So Austin Matthews doesn't play in that game yesterday, didn't play in game five in Boston, didn't play in the third period of game four, he skated more before yesterday's game. I mean, he made the trip to Boston before game five. I imagine he's going to be on the bird today, or last night when they went to Boston, man, your guests. Does he play in game seven? Oh, man, your guess is as good as mine at this point. My guess is no for what it's worth. I've had, I've had so many different theories tossed out. I guess. Yeah, if I have to, if you, if I have to make a guess, maybe I'm leaning no, but what I would say is I watched him at the morning skate before game five and before game six, and there was significant progress. More game five at TD Garden, he didn't interact with any of his teammates. He barely gave any effort in his actual skating. He just kind of played catch with Manny Malhotra for a bit, tried to tip a few pucks and went off after less than 10 minutes. So and he's been on the ice for 30 plus minutes, the last two days. He's making progress. And he's actually skating and he show, it looks like he's able to get exert more effort. So that's a positive sign, but yeah, we're, we're throwing our hands up at this point. I mean, can we get a game where we're not asking if a Maple Leaf superstar is ready to play for the, for 48 hours before it adds, you know, it's kind of been a kind of taken away from some of the other storylines of the series. But I think what Toronto has proved is they don't necessarily need them to beat this team. Guys, Boston, isn't that great? No, they're like, they, they are getting frustrated. They can't score. We're talking about Toronto's often over on the other side. They're ripping past your neck and they're, they're, they're like, we can't get to the inside. It doesn't feel like they're trying on the other side. There's like, there's a strategic thing there as well though, Luke. Don't you think that like, okay, we would. The strategy is not to only have one shot on goal in the first period, but they are in this defensive shell and they're like, okay, the Leafs are going to shoot themselves in the foot. Like there is no, there is no attempt to, to, to create offense. It feels like because that's normally the way to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs is be more patient than them. Toronto, the Leafs, but in general throughout the season aren't a very patient team. They take chances. They make silly zone exits. They, they cough it up in the neutral zone. They give odd man rushes the other way and then they get burned. You don't want to run a gun and trade chances with the Leafs. That's the blueprint. And especially if you can't match them with firepower, Boston is a defense first team. They have a superb goal tender. So that's the recipe. The problem is the Leafs have, it took them a few games, but they figured it out. They've said, oh, I guess we can't win four three. We can't win five four. This series is a two one series. We have to figure out how to win that way. And they bought in credit to them. Yeah, and I mean, if you go back to obviously, you know, this Leafs team is very different than a Leafs team of a couple of years ago, but the best iterations of this Leafs group that we talked about. And I guess I'll include that as so long as Sheldon Keefe has been head coach of this team, it's not been when they're running away scoring seven a night. The best versions of this team have been the lock it down and go shut out the Oilers with three different goalies in three straight games. Like that's been the best version of what this Leafs team has has been able to do. You know, you mentioned playing a more patient game. Obviously without Austin Matthews, it changes the way you play. And it's just a simple, you lose a guy like that play in 20 minutes a night. You have one less game breaker. Do you think that that is kind of forced them into maybe a more patient style? And again, nobody's going to sit here and say the Leafs are better off without Austin Matthews. But I do wonder if they can kind of learn a lesson out of this of being able to play a kind of more patient game. And that doesn't mean Austin Matthews should hang back and play possum. He should go do what he's capable of doing when he's back. But I do wonder if just missing that player and having the lines look so, so different has kind of forced them to play this. I mean, even you look at the the dumping chase, you're seeing that so much more be a doer, Gregor even knives getting in on the four check. I wonder how much is losing the one guy and, you know, it was Neelander earlier on in the series has kind of forced them into this style of play. Yeah, I'd agree with the knives, by the way, this kid presses me more and more each game. No, he's a man. No, he's a man away by this. He's a man. He can't call him a kid. He became a man now. He's 21 years old, but he's he is a man in this series. Now to your point, I think there's a I think a lot of it's psychological and we're seeing it play out at the highest level, but I find it happens in beer league. I find it happens in minor sports. If you have a superstar on your team and he shows up every night, you're kind of like, Oh, don't worry. This guy's going to score like awesome, awesome Matthews is nearly a goal, a game guy, like 69 goals in 81 games. It's ridiculous. Right? So you kind of just like, well, he's going to get one or he's going to take care of it. And I think it's human nature to kind of, I don't know, it's not like you're not trying, but you're kind of just feel a little bit of security that he's going to bail you out. So all of a sudden he's not there. You snap to attention. Well, someone's got to make a play. Someone's got to come up big or we have to adjust and not allow as much because we know this guy is not going to clap a one timer on the power play and save our bacon. So I do think a lot of it's mental and we saw we saw now they're two and oh in this series without them, but we saw a glimpse in the regular season. I would say their best game all season long was when the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled into here with Kyle Dubas and awesome Matthews suddenly got sick. It was a bit of a surprise. They threw dummy with marner and those guys just lit the penguins up. It was, it was just a domination and it was probably the more, more, most dominant regular season of the whole new season and they didn't even have Matthews in the lineup. And I think that was a sliver of foreshadowing of what they're capable of doing when he's not there. I think it gets guys attention if someone significant isn't in the lineup and I think that is across all team sports at all levels. I don't want to make this about one guy because you're right. It affects the whole team, but it's not lost on me that Matthew Nye's had a Gordie Howe Hatrick and was amazing in that game and he stepped up in a big way without Matthews. I don't think Nye's is sitting there going, well, I need someone to vacate a spot for me to really have an impact on this team, but it's not lost on me that of all of the other pieces, you know, you're Domi, you're Bertuzzi, you're McMahon, you're Robertson, Nye's is the one who we can sit there and envision one day him being a true part of the core. And I do wonder that it's not lost on me that he has stepped up in such a big way both times. And it's not just that it's Austin Matthews, like this is a guy he idolized. This was the Arizona kid when he was the Arizona kid, like maybe I'm making too much of it about that one player, but it's not lost on me that it's nice stepping up in such a big way in both those games. This kid is so clutch. So he's been on the ice for every single OT playoff winner, scored one himself, but never since he came in in Tampa too. And so I talked to him yesterday morning a little bit. I was like, what is it about overtime and you like, how come you kind of don't seem phased by the moment, like you're just a rookie? And he said, he said, yeah, you're right. He's like, really, I just treat it like the first period. He's like, I don't even think it's any different. And just to have that attitude is remarkable to me like, I was like, so you don't get nervous. And he's like, no. And you know, you see it, what David Pashnax picking on Morgan Riley in game five, he walks over laughing, starts shoving the Bruins best player and says, go me, go me. And just laughs in his face. It's like, this is a rookie. You're talking to a guy who's been on heart balance. Just the, he's figuring out that he's a big man and he can hang in this league. And I think it's, it's been a while since the Leafs have had one of these guys coming, so an a power forward, not just a pure skill forward. So I think it's really promising that this guy is going to be part of this team for a while. Yeah, he's been unbelievable. We'll see if he has one more game in him. Somebody has a chance to be an absolute hero with first winner take all win in this era of Toronto Maple Leafs teams. Luke, enjoy the game tomorrow, enjoy Boston and then, and congrats to you. You have the proper attire now that you've been able to come home and, and yeah, get, get the clothes that are appropriate for Boston. I'm packing a bunch of shorts just in case. All right. I go right. Go right to Florida. Add a boy. Good for you. See. All right. Thanks Luke. See you. Okay. What? As Luke Fox sports, that's own. Yeah. Going to Boston. Um, fool him once, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Are you ever going to have a problem because you are overdressed? I mean, I guess it's like uncomfortable. You have to be overdressed and underdressed like he was going to Boston the first time when he didn't know he was going to Boston. All right. I wanted to ask this earlier and I forgot to bring it up. But now that you talked about it, so Austin Matthews at a hundred percent is obviously without even thinking it's this is like that's not even a conversation even for the biggest mouth breather in the world that you can't mess with winning lineup like it's Austin Matthews. But does the math change a little bit considering how well this team has played if he's less than a hundred percent and like where, you know, I don't know how you evaluate how what percentage of Austin Matthews you're getting. But like what if he's like not close to a hundred percent, but he's like, I can go and you're like, is there a part of you that's like, man, if you're not at a hundred percent and we don't we're not getting the best version of yourself or anything close to it and you just want to be there and give it your all like maybe don't because it's we've done pretty well without you. And it gives you another day to rest and recover if in fact we went on Saturday Nick Robertson played 10 36 last night to 35 of that was on the power play he could do that. You could just do do that. So I think yeah, if he if he is upright and able and again, he looked at yesterday, we shall see you put him in and you don't put him in if he can't go, of course, obviously goes without saying. But if he can go, especially when you have the skillish winger that is put in positions to if you just turned Austin Matthews into Nick Robertson boy, did he get a few looks last night? Yeah, one of them might have dropped for him shots would be fallen if you will seem loves to say that. So yeah, he plays if he can go, he plays especially because you have a skilled guy that you could just pop him in those minutes. And then if you can get more out of it and you can and if not, I'd rather have 80% or 50% of Austin Matthews and Nick Robertson. Sorry, no offense, yeah, I think it's true though. Yeah, legends can be made tomorrow in Boston. It's only the first round, but man, five straight winner take all games lost by the Toronto Maple Leafs. They already snapped the home losing streak. Perhaps time to change the narrative on that winner take all streak. We'll be back on Monday for another edition of the fan morning show band. That's Brent Gunning sports that far down the van. Good morning. [MUSIC PLAYING]
